Egypt pound slides again at 2nd currency sale

Cairo, December 31, 2012

Egypt's pound fell further at the central bank's second auction of foreign currency under its new regime on Monday, with $74.8 million sold to banks at a cut-off price of 6.3050 Egyptian pounds.

This was weaker than the Sunday cut-off price of 6.2425. The pound fell on the interbank market to a record low of about 6.30 to the dollar after Sunday's auction.

The bank had offered $75 million at Monday's auction. The auctions are part of a new currency regime designed to slow the depletion of the country's foreign reserves, which the bank said had fallen to a critical level. – Reuters